About the Author

  Briddle’s frequent arrests his life in Prisms and his death due to a disease caused by foul air of the prison.

  8000 people died in Prison for refusing to accept the doctrine of Trinity Briddle era:

John Biddle, the Father of Unitarianism in England, was born in 1615.  He was a brilliant student and was described as a man who "outran his instructors and became tutor to himself."²⁷ He went to the University at Oxford in 1634, was made a B.A. in 1638 and an M.A. in 1641.  After leaving Oxford he was appointed as a teacher in the Free School of St. Mary de Crypt in Gloucester.  Here he began to re-examine his religious views, and began to doubt the validity of the doctrine of the Trinity.  He was influenced by the thought of the European Unitarians for the teaching of Socianus had by now made its way to England. A Latin version of the ‘Racovian Cathechism” had been sent to England with a dedication to King James.  It was burnt by the hangman in public in 1614. Although the book might be burnt, its contents caught the interest of the public. Steps were taken to discredit it.  John Owen, who was commissioned by the Council of State under Cromwell to refute the teaching of Socianus, is recorded as saying: "Do not look upon these things as things far off wherein you are little concerned, the evil is at the door; there is not a city, a town, scarce a village in England wherein some of the poison is not poured forth."²⁸

These attempts to uphold the accepted dogmas of the church met with opposition.  William Chilling worth, (1602-1644), condemned "the mischief of creeds which led to the persecution, burning, cursing, damning of men for not subscribing to the words of men, as the word of God."²⁹ Jeremy Taylor and Milton both affirmed that "the faithful pursuit of reason did not make a heretic.  The mischief lay in the influences that perverted the will."³⁰ The debate spread, and more steps were taken by those in authority to protect the belief in the Trinity. In June 1640, the Conventions of Canterbury and York decided to prohibit the import, printing and circulation of Socian books.  Priests were ordered not to preach the Socian doctrines, and everyone was warned that anyone who believed in these doctrines would be excommunicated.  A number of authors and thinkers denounced thisdecision, but to no effect.

It was in this climate of reappraisal and fresh examination that Biddle's own views underwent a change, especially in connection with the doctrine of Trinity.  He spoke freely about them and as a result was asked by the Magistrates to give them a written confession of faith in 1644.  This he did in simple language: "I believe there is one Almighty Essence called God. 

He also published a pamphlet at this time entitled "Twelve Arguments Refuting the Deity of the Holy Spirit." It was addressed "To the Christian Reader."  In 1645, the manuscript of the "Twelve Arguments: was seized and Biddle was imprisoned.  He was called to appear before Parliament but still refused to accept the Deity of the Holy Spirit.  He reprinted the pamphlet in 1647. On the 6th of September of the same year, Parliament ordered that the pamphlet be burnt by the hangman, and this was done.  On the 2nd of May, 1648, a "Severe Ordinance" was passed.  It stated that anyone who denied the Trinity, or the divinity of Jesus or the Holy Spirit, would suffer death without the benefit of clergy.

A summary of the "Twelve Arguments", the cause of such extreme measures, follows:

1) He that is distinguished from God is not God.

  The Holy Spirit is distinguished from God.

  Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.

Biddle further explained this syllogism with these words:

The major premise is quite clear inasmuch as if we  say that the Holy Spirit is God and yet  distinguished from God then it implies a  contradiction.  The minor premise that the Holy  Spirit is distinguished from God is confirmed by the  whole current of scripture.  The argument that the  Holy Spirit is distinguished from God if it is taken  personally and not essentially is against all  reason:

First, it is impossible for any man to distinguish the Person from the Essence of God, and  not to frame two Beings or Things in his mind.  Consequently, he will be forced to the conclusion that there are two Gods.

Secondly, if the Person be distinguished from the Essence of God, the Person would be some Independent Thing.  Therefore it would be either finite or infinite.  If finite then God would be a finite thing since according to the Church everything in God is God Himself. So the conclusion is absurd.  If infinite then there will be two infinites in God, and consequently the two Gods which is more absurd than the former argument.

Thirdly, to speak of God taken impersonally is ridiculous as it is admitted by everyone that God is the Name of a Person, who with absolute sovereignty rules over all...None but a person can rule over others therefore to take otherwise than personally is to take Him otherwise than He is.

2)He that gave the Holy Spirit to the Israelites is Jehova Alone

Then the Holy Spirit is not Jehova or God.

3)He that speakest not for himself is not God.

The Holy Spirit speaks not for himself.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.

4)He that is taught is not God.

He that hears from another what he shall speak is taught.

Christ speaks what he is told. Therefore Christ is not God.

Here Biddle quotes John 8.26 where Jesus says: "Whatso-  every I have heard from Him these things I speak."

5)In John 16.14 Jesus says: 'God is He that giveth all things to all."

6)He that is sent by another is not God.

The Holy Spirit is sent by God.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.

7)He that is not the giver of all things is not God.

He that is the gift of God is not the giver of all things.

He that is the gift of God is himself given.

The gift is in the power and at the disposal of the giver.

It is therefore absurd to imagine that God can be in the power or at the disposal of another.

Here Biddle quotes Acts 17.25: "God giveth to all, life, breath and all things."  

8)He that changes place is not God.

The Holy Spirit changes place.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.

Biddle further explained this syllogism in these words: "If God changes place then he would cease to be where he was before and begin to be where he was not before, which is against his Omnipresence, and His Deity. Therefore it was not God who came to Jesus but an Angel sustaining the Person in the Name of God."

9) He that prays to Christ to come to judgement is not God.

The Holy Spirit does so.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.

10) In Romans 10.14 it reads, "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard.  He in whom men have not believed, yet were disciples."

He who is not believed in is not God.

Men have not believed in the Holy Spirit, yet were disciples.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.  

11) He that hears from God at the second hand, viz the Christ Jesus, what he shall speak has an understanding distinct from God.

He that heareth from God what he shall speak is

taught of God.

The Holy Spirit does so.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.

12) He that has a will distinct in number from that of God is not God.

The Holy Spirit has a will distinct in number from God.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is not God.

Here Biddle quotes Romans 8.26-27 which reads: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth...for we know not how to pray as we ought but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groans unutterable...he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."

Biddle also discussed the one verse in the New Testament which the established church quoted to support their view of Trinity.  It is John 5.7 which reads: "For there are three that bear record in heaven - the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are One." Biddle said the verse was contrary to common sense.  It contradicted other verses in the scriptures, and it only signified union of consent and agreement but never of essence. Furthermore, the verse did not even appear in the ancient Greek copies of the gospel, nor in the Syriac translations, nor in the very old Latin editions.  It seemed therefore that the verse had been interpolated, and was rejected as such by interpreters both ancient and modern.³²

            Despite the Act of 1648, Biddle published two other tracts, and would probably have been hanged for doing so had he not been helped by a number of independent members of Parliament. One of the works was called "A Confession of Faith Touching the Holy Trinity According to the Scripture."  It was composed of six articles, each illustrated with passages from the Bible and supported with his arguments.  In the preface, he boldly talked of the evils resulting from the belief in the doctrine of Trinity. He said that the arguments used by the trinita-rians were "fitter for conjurers than Christians."³³ Here is an excerpt from Biddle's "Confession of Faith.":

I believe that there is one most High God, Creator of Heaven, and Earth and the first Cause of all things and consequently the ultimate object of our Faith, and Worship.  I believe in Jesus, to the extent that he might be our brother, and have a fellow feeling of our infirmities and so become more ready to help us.  He has only human nature.

He is subordinate to God.  And he is not another God. There are not two Gods.

The Holy Spirit is an Angel who due to his eminence and intimacy with God is singled out to carry His message."³⁴  

The other work Biddle published at this time was called "The Testimonies of Iraneus, Justin Martyr, Etc. Concerning One God and the Persons of the Holy Trinity."  

After a long wait in prison, a magistrate stood bail for Biddle, and he was released. The name of the magistrate was secret since he feared for his safety.  Biddle had not enjoyed his liberty for very long before he was again thrown into prison.  The magistrate died soon after, and left a small legacy to Biddle.  It was soon eaten up by the high costs of the prison, and for a while Biddle's food was reduced to a small quantity of milk taken in the morning and in the evening.  His situation was eased when a London publisher employed him while still in prison as a proof reader for a new edition of the Septuagent, a Greek translation of the Bible.  On the 16th of February 1652, the Act of Oblivion was passed and Biddle was set free. An English version of the Racovian Cathechism was printed in Amsterdam during the same year, and immediately became popular in England.  Biddle printed a book on unitarianism in 1654, again in Amsterdam, and it was widely read in England. During this period of freedom, Biddle began to meet with other unitarians every Sunday to worship God in their own way. Those who attended did not believe in the concept of Original Sin and the doctrine of Atonement.  On the 13th of December 1654, Biddle, who had recently published two cathechisms, was again arrested and sent to prison.  He was forbidden the use of pen, ink and paper and was not allowed to have any visitors.  All copies of his books were ordered to be burnt. He appealed, and was released on the 28th of May 1655.

It was not long before Biddle again clashed with the authoritries: A public debate was taking place.  The speaker commented the dispute by asking if there was anyone present who denied that Christ was God most High. Biddle promptly and firmly declared, "I deny it."  When he supported this statement with arguments which his adversaries could not refute, it was decided to halt the proceedings and to continue on another day.  Biddle was then reported to the authorities, and before the day fixed for the debate was again arrested and put in prison.  To begin with, Biddle was denied the services of a lawyer, perhaps because it was doubtful whether there was a law in force at that time under which he could be convicted.  His friends who were well aware of this decided to approach Cromwell directly.  They drew up a petition and sent it to him.  Before it could reach him the petition was so altered and disfigured that its authors had to openly disown it as a forgery.

Cromwell, who was at his wits end, found a way out of this difficult situation by banishing Biddle to the Scilly Islands on the 5th of October 1655.  He was to remain in custody in the Castle of St. Mary's for the rest of his life and would be paid an allowance of one hundred crowns per annum.  During his captivity there, Biddle wrote a poem a few lines of which follow:

The conclave met, the judge was set,

Man mounted on God's throne;

And they did judge a matter there,

That rests with Him alone;

A brother's faith they made a crime,

And crushed thought's native right sublime.³⁶

The more he suffered, the more convinced he became about the errors of the prevailing religion supported by the established Church.  Thomas Firmin, who had helped Biddle in the past, continued to help him by providing him with money which made his life in prison as comfortable as it could be.  Meanwhile sympathy for Biddle increased far and wide. The more he suffered, the more popular his creed became.  The government asked  Dr. John Owen to counteract the effect of Biddle's teaching.  After holding a survey in which he discovered that a large number of Englishmen were unitarians, he published a reply to Biddle in 1655.  In a way Cromwell's actions helped Biddle: Supported by the allowance, Biddle was out of reach of his enemies and could spend his time in contemplation and prayer.  He remained a prisoner in the Castle of St. Mary's until 1658; when, due to the increased pressure for his release, he regained his freedom.

As soon as he had come out of prison, he began to hold public meetings in which he examined the Scriptures to demonstrate the Unity of God and show the falsehood of the doctrine of Trinity.  These meetings developed into regular unitarian worship according to their faith.  This had never happened in England before.

On the 1st of June 1662 Biddle was again arrested together with some of his friends in the middle of one of their meetings.  They were all put in prison and bail was refused.  There was no statute under which they could be punished so they were prosecuted under Common Law. Biddle was fined one hundred pounds and condemned to lie in prison until it was paid.  His fellow qorshippers were fined twenty pounds each.  Biddle was ill-treated in prison and kept in solitary confinement. This, together with the foul air of the prison brought on a disease which resulted in his death in less than five weeks.  He died on the 22nd September 1662.  

Biddle's death, together with the effects of the Act of Uniformity, passed in the same year, meant that public worship which followed the pattern established by Biddle could not take place. Under the Act 2,257 priests were ejected from their "living." Their fate is unknown. But it is known that about 8,000 people died in prison for refusing to accept the doctrine of Trinity during this particular era in England.  The author of a memoir of Biddle, written about twenty years after his death, preferred to remain anonymous for safety's sake.  Howeever, unitarianism continued as a school of thought and its adherents grew.  The use of force to bring back people into the established Church only helped to win many people over to the beliefs of Socianus and Biddle, and many of the people over to the beliefs of Socianus and Biddle, and many of the leading intellects of the age, including Milton, Sir Isaac Newton and Locke, affirmed the Divine Unity.

The degree to which the authorities attempted to stamp out unitarianism can be measured by the laws they passed: An act of 1664 condemned all persons convicted of refusing to go to an established church with banishment.  Should such a person return, they would be hanged. There were also penalties for anyone who attended a religious meeting of five or more persons not authorized by the Church.  Should anyone commit this offense a second time, they would be banished to America, and in case of return or escape would suffer death without benefit of clergy. The Test Act of 1673 provided that, apart from the punishment provided for in the Act of 1664, any person who did not receive the sacrament according to the usage of the Church of England would on conviction be no longer able to use anyone or bring any action in the law courts.  He could no longer be a guardian of any child, or executor, or the recipient of any legacy or deed or gift. Should anyone convicted under this law attempt to do any of these things, they were liable to a five hundred pound fine.  In 1689 the Toleration Act was passed.  However, toleration was denied to those who did not accept the doctrine of Trinity. The Unitarians condemned the intolerance of the Toleration Act.  Parliament replied by condemning Unitarianism as an "obnoxious heresy." The penalty for this crime was the loss of all civil rights together with imprisonment for three years.  However what Biddle had stood for could not be removed from men's hearts by statute alone, even though the laws prevented many from openly professing their faith. Those who felt they were unable to defy the law and openly denounce the doctrine of Trinity resorted to various expedients in order to quieten the reproaches of their conscience.  Some quietly omitted those parts of the Athanasian Creed of which they did not approve.  Some had it read by the parish clerk.  One priest is said to have shown his disrespect for the creed by having it sung to a popular hunting tune.  Another priest, before he read the doctrine of Trinity prescribed by law, said, "Brethren, this is the creed of St. Athanasius, but God forbid that it should be the creed of any other man."³⁷ However, on the whole those who believed in the Divine Unity did not generally dare to openly declare their faith. And to renounce all outward conformity to any profession of error.  He had the courage of a martyr.